The challenge of mastering a big-city metro system and cityscape of Hong Kong with kids in tow DID sound a little daunting…
We’d spent three months in South East Asia getting comfortable with tuk tuks and sprawling jungles. But were we ready for Hong Kong?!
In short; YES! We loved it.
We found the best food at Yum Cha. We even found nature reserves and bush walks (in Hong Kong?!) and made our way around multiple wet markets.
It turned out to be a great introduction to East Asia for our first family gap year. And a fun destination to explore with kids.
Here is what we recommend on your itinerary for Hong Kong with kids!
Hong Kong food you need to try
Dim Sum at Yum Cha had been highly recommended as a fun way (especially for the kids) to experience traditional Hong Kong Chinese dishes.
In Cantonese, ‘Yum Cha’ literally means to ‘drink tea’ and is a time-honoured tradition in Hong Kong, celebrating the chance to come together and share a table spread with dimsum, tea, and other treats.
The YUM CHA chain of restaurants in Hong Kong puts a very modern twist on the old traditions and recipes; a (successfully sneaky) great way to introduce the kids to some different Chinese dishes!
We ended up eating at both Yum Cha Central and in Tsim Sha Tsui and would definitely go again!
Hiking in Hong Kong with kids
In Hong Kong?! This was definitely an unexpected find for us!
[I have to confess we actually set off to find and climb the famous Mount Victoria. And err, due to our slight navigational errors when taking the subway system and bus mapping, we ended up at Mount Davis!].
It turned out be a fantastic unplanned choice, and we found ourselves meeting locals, exploring the old army base, and confirming that Hong Kong DOES in fact have some great bush walks!
Check out Hong Kong’s wet-markets
The wet markets in Hong Kong are traditional markets that sell fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, and other perishable goods. There are wet markets in most neighbourhoods of Hong Kong.
We found plenty!
The favourite wet market in Hong Kong for us was Chun Yeung Street which has a tram line running right through it.
This is a popular market for locals and is literally right outside the Ramada Grand View hotel door!
Our challenge in Hong Kong…
By far the biggest challenge of our time in Hong Kong was wrangling kids in an apartment that just was NOT designed for two energetic, outdoor boys! (It said ‘standard sized deluxe apartment’!). We made the decision to stick to our budget, and booked a local hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Well… it was certainly an experience! We are often asked about how the boys respond to moving homes as we travel. One of the biggest lessons learnt as we follow behind our boys on this adventure, is of how adaptable children are…
Picture us arriving at 02:00am, having travelled since that morning.
I was NOT IMPRESSED [understatement] to find an apartment that would do better titled as a SHOEBOX, where my feet as close to stuck out the door…
But the kids were so excited!
Gavin looked at me, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, when at that time of morning Harry squealed with excitement, “I LOVE this cute little house! Look how cute it is!”
Where to (otherwise) stay in Hong Kong with kids
For the last two nights we ended up rebooking, and found the Ramada Hong Kong Grand View Hotel.
It even had a swimming pool with a rooftop view out over the Hong Kong skyline, and was right above the tram track and an amazing old-style wet market.
At $120 NZD per night, we would recommend anyone to stay here!
Getting around Hong Kong with kids
We fast became masters of the metro!
Seriously though, Hong Kong is an easy city to get around in. We used the metro, the trams, hailed a taxi, took a bus to and from the airport, and walked in between all of those.
If we went again we would…
We would climb Mount Victoria!
And, we would definitely stay at our second choice of hotel… though, in saying that; the shoebox did turn out to be one of our most memorable travel stories!
More useful links for your travels in East Asia and beyond…
These are the companies we use while traveling fulltime as a family and that we would recommend to anyone planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation and it’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- Hostelworld– The largest inventory of hostel accommodation in the world.
- Skyscanner – This is by far our favourite flight search engine. They are able to search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.
- GetYourGuide– Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world including everything from walking tours, to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy it short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country.
- World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home).
Read more about travel in East Asia
- The ultimate travel guide for Japan with kids.
- Fushimi Inari Shrine: Walking up Mount Inari.
- Taiwan with kids: A complete Travel Guide.
- Visiting Taroko Gorge, Taiwan.
- Taiwanese food: The real deal traveling in Taiwan.
- Visiting Busan’s Jagalchi Market, South Korea.
- Hong Kong: Mount Davis (accidentally) and the Monster Building.